Valentine Cocktail & Our 13 year Anniversary

Gentlemen, Flash Alert! Valentine’s Day is tomorrow! (In some parts of the world, it is already here!) Are you ready to woo your sexy other?

If you’ve been a good man and have shown how much you love and appreciate your beau all year, then this little Love Holiday should be old hat for you. However, if you need to make up for some past transgressions or have someone new who you are trying to impress, you may benefit from some advice.

Here’s some of the things I’ve learned in the 13 years (Feb. 15th is our official anniversary!) where I’ve managed to convince my beautiful Diane that I am someone worth hanging on to:

Personal and passionate trump purely purchased any day. Don’t go out and buy and generic bouquet of flowers or some jewelry at the place with the cheesy, annoying commercial and think you are good. Plan a fun evening, hand make a card (make it personal reminding them of how great it is to be spending time together, pictures of you together, or as simple as a heart made of glitter and glue), and make their favorite dessert for them. Fill the day with meaningful personal moments.

Notice the details and compliment them. Realistically and genuinely and particularly those non-physical.

A good home-cooked romantic dinner beats any restaurant.

Share. Give your date some of your dinner, and let them give you some of theirs. Two spoons, one dessert. A passionate couple is one entity, not two individuals.

The day or morning before, clean the house. Trust me and just do it.

Be generous and compassionate to everyone. Take them out to a nice dinner, then leave a crappy tip, and you are letting them know you are a cheap-ass only looking to get them in bed. Open the door for your date then let it swing shut on a little old lady, pure asshole.

Have fun. Do what you love doing together and enjoy every minute of it. Sounds simple, but oftentimes we get so wrapped up in making everything perfect, we forget to actually enjoy it.

13 years later we’ve affected each other psychologically: more madness…

There’s a little jump start, the rest is up to you, gents. If anyone has more advice as to what makes an unforgettable Valentine’s Day, please share (particularly you ladies, you know us men don’t understand you very well.) As an added bonus, here’s a sexy, classic cocktail recipe you can use to start the evening off with, or to invite you date in for a nightcap. Or pull an Esquire tip and put the recipe out on a business card, then hand it to the bartender when out on the town. – Todd

Oh, by the way….we’ll be on KCRW’s (89.9 FM) Good Food show with Evan Kleinman on Saturday, Valentines Day between 11:30am – 12pm. If you can’t get it, they archive all their podcast’s so you can catch it later…alligator!

Between the Sheets Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

1 oz Cognac

1 oz Light Rum

1 oz Triple Sec

1 oz Fresh Lime Juice

dash simple syrup

Directions:

1. Rub the rim of a chilled cocktail glass with the lemon wedge & sugar the rim.

2. Put all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, then shake it with passion for 15-20 seconds. Strain into your cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime twist, or for a sexy addition drop a few raspberries into the cocktail.

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Recipe Note for Salt: All recipes containing salt are based on kosher or sea salt amounts, not table salt. If using table salt, reduce the amount used to taste.

Congratulations on your 13 years! The photos are adorable. It’s so true that home-cooked meals trump all restaurants meals on V-Day…much more relaxed and intimate, plus you’re not getting ripped off! Here’s to many more years of food and love.

After being on the inside of the restaurant biz, it just isn’t the best night to be eating out. Even the good restaurants that aren’t out to “rip you off,” are just stressed to the max. We’d much rather go to the restaurants on days where they can be fully appreciated. Plus it’s more fun to feed each other at home. Thanks for the well wishes. -WORC

Hope you guys had a great anniversary today! Steve and I are doing 13 wonderful married years come September. It just gets better, doesn’t it??

You guys were and are adorable. Your words are wonderful Todd and I agree with all of it – except I think that a passionate couple is both one entity and two individuals. I think you know that too, but I also think you know what I’m getting at, in that whole “remain your own person” thing. I especially like the compliment part, especially the non-physical. I feel so lucky that I have a man that tells me that kind of stuff all the time.

I can tell you guys are best friends. And that’s the *best* it gets. Much love to you both!

i miss miss miss you guys! i feel like the thrown away kitchen sponge! Great post Todd! You two remain the sexiest couple on line.. way to go on being together 13 years! I was just talkin’ about how a good friend ended my 11 yr itch yesterday (in that i had a fabulous Vday and hadn’t in that long). I can’t think of anything else you might be able to seduce her. Sounds like you have it down packed. Oh wait, a kick a** pair or shoes that she could wear on your anni would just take it over the top!!!

Awww, you know you are our favorite sexy, chica. Sorry we haven’t had time to visit anyone lately. Glad you had a great V-day. Had to quickly check your post on it, and those rum balls look damn good. Want 10! Miss ya millions. -WORC

Awww you two look so damn cute! The last 13 years have been kind to you both. Happy Anniversary! I just sat down with a cup of tea and listened to you and Evan. Now I’m hungry for Bahn Mi. Love you guys!

Thanks, Lisa. We had to grab something to eat after listening to her show as well. Almost as bad as cruising our favorite blogs. Love you, too. -WORC

Here’s to another 13 years times 10! How great to see pictures of when WOR first started! You are such incredible people and so perfectly matched. I am lucky to know you both and to have such wonderful example of a great food couple nearby for inspiration!

Happy Anniversary to you guys! I always enjoy reading your stories. I can’t wait until I’ll have 13 years together with my valentine, but I am enjoying every moment, that’s what matters, right?
I don’t have any tips on how to make a perfect valentine’s day, except to have the right valentine next to you…..

That’s what matters, indeed. It isn’t the quantity, it’s the quality of the time together. Hope you had a great Valentine. -WORC

Happy Anniversary! Loved the photos and insights. One of those tips ring true for me – cleaning the house! Always a pleasant surprise for me. Wishes for many more years for you two.Thank you! See gents, some things you don’t try to understand, you just do it. They’ll love you for it. -WORC

Happy Anniversary you two! I love all the tips, particularly the last one. I think you’ve summed it up succinctly; we tend to forget that having fun definitely outweighs perfection! Thank you. Yeah, those damn anal retentive qualities keep biting us in the butt. We always have to check ourselves up. -WORC

Happy Anniversary! So fun to see all the old photos ! Have fun on the radio today.

You offer some great V-day tips, I don’t have any of my own — my favorites have been evenings spent with my girlfriends, eating dinner in front of the fire.Thank you. Love between friends can go just as deep as between lovers. That counts. -WORC

Happy Anniversary! Loved the early photos, you can totally tell that you were made for each other.
May you have many more years of love and devotion.We are totally devoted to being total Turkeybutts to each other as much as we can. So far, so good. -WORC

Happy Anniversary, Rice Dude and Dudette! Valentine’s Day was good here in Japan – we’re lucky we got to celebrate it before all you guys!Thanks! Glad you had a good Valentine’s. Let the love begin! -WORC

Congrats on 13 years together, and what a great pair. I *love* that old photo with the puppy (whose pup?). You guys were so young and impressionable and cute Now you’re old and crotchety and cute!! Ha ha ha. Cocktails for me are more like 3 sheets to the winds instead of between the sheets *snort*. How are you going to celebrate 13 years? Here’s a suggestion, put a few thousand more miles on that trusty truck of yours and come to Colorado. Kaweah is waiting. xxooThe pup was is my mom’s (Todd here) and she is such a sweet dog. We may just have to take you up on that. We are needing our mountain and Yu fix.-WORC

Wah-hoo! Can the cocktail apply to me? It sounds fairly creepy to have a “between the sheets” cocktail for one! Good tips, Todd… Unfortunately I have nothing to add except probably what *not* to do, maybe. Ha ha ha. You guys are so adorable! (You know, they had color film back then too! Kidding!)

Stealing from the adorable Jen in the next comment, we’ll rename it 3 Sheets to the Wind for the singles out there. Color film was very rare way back then . – WORC